Coco Gauff, the No. 10 women’s singles player in the world, beat Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the women’s US Open final. It was a dramatic comeback by Gauff, who was down 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
After Gauff won on his home court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, the crowd, which was full of famous people, cheered loudly. Gauff, who is only 19, has now won her first grand slam. She is the first American girl to win the US Open since Serena Williams, who has won 23 majors, did so in 1999.
“Right now, I feel like I’m in shock,” an emotional Gauff said after she won. “God puts you through hard times, and that makes this moment sweeter than I could have imagined.”
She thanked her family, her teammates, and “the people who didn’t believe in me.”
Sabalenka, who will soon be ranked No. 1 in the women’s world, was going for her second major title of the year. In the first set, she broke Gauff’s serve three times and won easily, 6-2.
But with the crowd shouting “Let’s go Coco,” Gauff stepped up her game in the second set, going up a break and winning 6-3 to force a third set.
A stuck-in Gauff took charge in the third set, going up a double break and getting closer to her first grand slam win. Sabalenka won the next two games, but Gauff won the last game and the match, making her the 12th youth in US Open history to win the title.
“I don’t know, I just knew that if I didn’t give it my all, I had no chance of winning,” Gauff said when asked how she found the strength to come back after losing the first set.
On her way to the final, the athlete lost the first set of a match twice, once to Laura Siegemund in the first round and again to Elise Mertens in the third round.
With the win, Gauff joins Williams and Tracy Austin as the only other teenagers to have won the US Open. She is about to move up to No. 3 in the WTA singles rankings, and she and fellow American Jessica Pegula will be No. 1 in doubles.
Gauff fell to the ground after he won, then got back up to give Sabalenka a hug. After that, Gauff was so moved that he got down on his knees to take in the moment.
Gauff made fun of her dad as she thanked her family after the match. “Thank you, first of all, to my parents,” she said. “Today was the first time I’d ever seen my dad cry. He does not want me to tell you this, but he got caught in 4K!”
Monday, despite her loss, the Belarusian sensation will ascend to the top of the WTA singles rankings. This will end Iga witek’s rule as No. 1 for 75 straight weeks.
Sabenka praised her opponent by saying, “I hope we play in many more finals” and calling Gauff “amazing.”
The American then told Sabenka how happy he was that she had become the No. 1 player. “Aryna is a great player,” she said. “Congratulations, you deserve to be number one!”
Sabalenka told reporters after the match that the loss was a “lesson” and that she had started “overthinking” in the second set.
“It’s just me against me,” she said. Gauff “was really moving and defending better than anybody else.”
“I was playing against the crowd,” she explained.
Gauff’s first grand slam
Gauff and Sabalenka last played each other in the rounds of the Indian Wells tournament in March. The Belarusian won easily, 6-4, 6-0. Gauff has improved a lot in the last six months since that loss, so Saturday’s final was a completely different game.
The 19-year-old has won three WTA titles this season, including the biggest of her career in Cincinnati right before the US Open. She has also won 17 of her last 18 matches. She is the youngest American woman to get to the final of the US Open since Serena Williams, who was only 17 when she did it in 1999.
“Serena is who she is. She’s the real deal. Gauff said to the WTA, “I hope to do half of what she did.”
Gauff was playing in her second grand slam final. In 2022, she made it to the final of the French Open, but Iga witek beat her quickly.
But after beating Karolna Muchová 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals, Gauff talked about how her mind has changed. She used to have phony syndrome, but now she thinks she can compete with the best players in the world.
“I think it’s still a part of me,” she said of feeling like a fake. “It’s definitely something I’m getting better at. Even after I won Washington, DC, I thought, “Well, I beat some good people, but maybe I caught them on a bad day.”
“It’s still a big part of me, but I think I give myself more credit these days, and it’s true that you can make things happen by saying them into existence. I’ve been trying to talk to myself more positively and tell myself I’m a great player.
After losing in the first round at Wimbledon, the sixth seed told reporters that she was “getting ready for next year.” She also said that she was “really proud of myself” for how well she had done at Flushing Meadows.
Gauff told Reuters, “I’ve been putting more attention on myself and what I want from myself.” “I really think I’m old enough and skilled enough to do it now.”
“Stay in the fight.”
Sabalenka had never lost a set or more than five games in a match in New York before her semifinal match against Madison Keys.
But the American gave her a hard time on Thursday. She lost the first set 6-0 and had to come back to win the match 0-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (10-5).after hard tennis for two and a half hours.
Late in the second set, Keys was so likely to win that Gauff was asked in her press conference after the match about the possibility of playing her fellow American.
Sabalenka’s run to the final of the US Open caps off an amazing year in which she won three titles, including her first grand slam at the Australian Open and her sixth Masters 1000 title in Madrid.
Even though Sabalenka beat Gauff the last time they played, she praised her growth this season and said that Gauff is a “much better” player now than she was six months ago.
“She’s improved a lot,” Sabalenka told media after her quarterfinal match. “So it’s a different player. We don’t like to think about that match.
“I believe I must only concentrate on myself and prepare for another conflict before this final. No matter what, I should just keep working and doing my best.
“I know you can’t do much, but what else can you do? You just have to be there and fight for what you want.”
Sabalenka will definitely have to play in front of a crowd of fans in the final on Saturday, but she said she was sure she could handle the situation because she had already played in a very loud environment against Keys on Thursday.
“Of course, I would rather have someone else or the crowd be a little bit the same for both players, but I think today’s match will help me in the final because I’ll be fine with this support. She said, “I’ll be fine.”
“I still hope that some of them will help me, even if it’s just a little bit. Please, just once in a while. Please,” she said with a laugh.
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